Always: I Can't Dream Without You
by Iggy Marauder
Summary: An epidemic sweeps the United Kingdom, and Severus will do all he can to save Lily. /songfic to "Harlow's Song"


**Requested songfic.**

**song; harlows song - good charlotte  
>pairing; snapelily  
>genre; horror<br>rating; M  
>prompt; silence<strong>

**NOTES: Don't story alert this. It's a oneshot - which means there will be no other chapters to this.**

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><p>The moonlight shined down upon a house, a rickety thing with paint peeling off it on the outside and the wallpaper on the inside wilting and curling at the edges. It looked like it hadn't been lived in for years, which would be an accurate assumption, despite having two occupants.<p>

The two sat in the dark living room, eating food they had snitched from one of the abandoned stores in the nearby town as quietly as possible.

Besides their small noises of eating, all was quiet, just as it had been for the past two weeks.

"There's only one bedroom."

Green eyes flashed up, blinking as red strands of hair were moved out of a round, tired, but beautiful face. They gazed into darker, almost black, orbs.

"Sev…when's the last time you let yourself take the bed?"

The dark eyes looked away, long black hair falling into his face as if trying to hide, though his larger than average nose still stuck out like a sore thumb.

Silence reigned until the red haired teen stood with a sigh, grabbing her bag and taking it with her to the one bedroom.

The door closed, and the man left in the living room breathed out.

After he knew that she was asleep, he grabbed some of the musty cushions from the couch, slapping the dust from them, before moving out of the room and down the hall.

_When you close your eyes and go to sleep tonight  
><em>_I'll be right outside your door_

He placed the pillows on the floor right outside the bedroom, laying down and wrapping his cloak around himself.

He thought back to the month before, as he often did late at night, and closed his eyes, willing the flashback of fear away.

It was a Hogsmeade weekend, one of the last of the year, and almost all the seventh years that were old enough were getting pissed at the Three Broomsticks.

Except Severus Snape.

He was sitting on a bench, scowling at the world but crying on the inside. He'd tried so hard to repent for calling his best friend, his secret crush, Lily, a terrible, horrible name. He'd made progress, but it was so little.

And here he was, sitting on a bench instead of walking with Lily, just the way it had been for over two years. She was off talking to some Ravenclaws, down the road - Severus could see her, even from this distance - and fending off James Potter, as per usual.

Severus was only glad that he'd been able to keep James from stealing Lily. He was such an arrogant arsehole; Severus wasn't perfect but he was a damn sight better than James.

The bench he sat on was near a path that led into the Forbidden Forest, and it was quiet there. The sounds of the people were far away, and -

It was too quiet.

Severus' skin prickled, but he knew better than to jump up and make sudden movements. Instead, he listened, eyes wide and alert, senses reaching as far as they could…

_There. _A noise, a twig snapping. It was unnatural to hear that with none of the birds singing of spring.

He fingered his wand, pulling it out slowly.

Then he jumped up and ran.

He heard it. No, not it, _them. _They were chasing him, and he threw a glance over one shoulder and literally felt an extra boost of fear and adrenaline hit his system.

They were hideous, numerous, and scary. Bloodshot, crazed eyes, saliva and foam spilling from their mouths. Skin peeling off, rotting wounds forgotten and ignored. _Humans. _Or they once were. And chasing him.

"RUN!" he screamed, catching everyone's attention. _"RUN!"_

Students and adults alike screamed in fear at the sight of the mob of animalistic people, running in any direction away from the creatures.

Of course, James bloody Potter and his sidekicks, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, came hurtling out of the Three Broomsticks with wands raised.

"Get out of the way, Snape!" Potter roared, and Severus barely dodged a cutting hex, looking back and watching one of the people's arms get sheared off. The woman didn't even look at her arm, eyes fixed hungrily on the people before her.

Severus reached the three, and without thinking blurted, "Run! Merlin be damned, _run you fools!_"

Black shoved him back, snarling, "We're not cowards, Snivellus. Run if you want, but don't bloody tell me what to do! _Diffindo!"_

Severus made a pained and annoyed noise in the back of his throat, turning to run. He froze though, as he saw Lily, her green eyes blazing with determination, running toward the mob.

He dashed forward, grabbing her arm and running.

"Severus! Stop! Let _go!_ I need to help! _Severus!"_

"Look, Lily! Look and tell me if you could stop them!"

She did. She watched as more came into the town, tearing at the doors, tearing after people.

She turned away with a stifled shriek of pain and fear when she saw Remus get a chunk of his arm bitten out of him and his other arm ripped clean off. His howl of agony carried throughout the entire town.

Not fighting anymore, Severus released her arm, grabbing her hand instead. They raced through the town, dodging the increasing number of ghastly humans that popped out of seemingly nowhere until they came to the edge of town.

They were surrounded by these creatures, and Severus, in a moment of panic, pulled Lily into a tight hug and then they winked out of existence with a loud pop.

_Dreams will come and they'll take you away  
><em>_Let them bring you back to me_

A rustle and a sigh from within the bedroom made Severus blink, breaking out of his thoughts of that day.

He listened, hearing nothing else, and sighed. Making himself comfortable, he closed his eyes and slipped into a light sleep. He only hoped that Lily's dreams were better than his.

_And tomorrow when you wake I'll be next to you  
><em>_The protection from the day_

They set off in the early morning, walking south. They were hoping to reach the coast of England and try to find a boat, or swim if they had to, to get to the continent. They could only hope that it had been - whatever _it_ was - a quarantined incident that occurred solely in the UK.

So they traveled by day, stopping at the nearest town by late afternoon and stealing all the still edible food they could find. If they were lucky, it was a wizarding village and the fresh produce had never ending stasis charms on them, allowing them to actually have real meat and fruit and vegetables.

If they were unlucky, some of the creatures plagued with whatever illness it was - for that's all it could be, the way it spread from person to person with a single bite - would be milling around the area, scrapping with each other, eating chunks of each other's flesh, hunting down any animals stupid enough to be in the area, and taking down any humans that were unable to defend themselves.

It took two weeks, four days, and a particularly jarring fight against _children_ that had been infected for Lily to finally break down and cry.

Lily had almost been bitten, unable to do serious damage to a little girl with large, dark, bloodshot eyes and matted gold curls. When she wasn't snarling with hunger, the girl looked almost normal - she had few wounds, and so did her other child peers turned into hideous creatures.

Severus had stepped in front of Lily, face devoid of emotion as he cast five _sectumsempras _in rapid succession, his aim impeccable and his will strong enough for the curse to slice the children into pieces.

_When the tears fall down your face like morning dew  
><em>_I'll be there to put a smile on your face  
><em>_And I'll say_

Threats eliminated, Severus turned around, concerned about Lily's hesitation. He caught her when she swayed, holding her up and her hair back as she retched at their feet, shaking and sobbing.

He cast a freshening charm on her to remove the sick from her mouth, receiving a watery, grateful look.

"Lily…look at me."

She did, green eyes scared, confused, and broken. He cupped her face in his hands, and said softly, "Lily, please don't ever freeze up again." He searched her eyes. "I love you, Lily. I don't know what I would do without you. I don't want to watch you get bitten and turn into them."

Her breath hitched, and a watery smile curled her lips, even as a tear slid down her cheek.

Severus simply held her close as she cried.

_I don't wanna live this life without you  
><em>_I don't wanna spend the night without you  
><em>_I don't wanna know what it's like  
><em>_I can't dream without you  
><em>_I can't dream without you_

Lily finally let him close again, and they began to rebuild their friendship, making it stronger and turning it into love. Even with fighting these creatures every other day and trekking through the countryside of England to the coast with only enough food to sustain them and few opportunities to bathe and feel human, it was the happiest Severus had ever been.

A week after her breakdown, Lily kissed Severus, and that night they shared the single bed they found.

Another week and a half, and Severus worshipped Lily's body as they made love, clinging to each other and sharing the depths of their feelings.

_Let your fire burn bright for the world to see  
><em>_You are the better part of me_

Over the next few weeks, they made love on several nights, and when Lily began getting morning sickness, they had a new reason to make it through fights alive, to make it to the coast, to make it to the continent.

_When you hold my hand I swear that I believe  
><em>_I'm living in my wildest dreams  
><em>_And I see_

They were holding hands, having made it to the coast finally. They had steered clear of London, unwilling to get close to such a heavily populated place where there were hordes of those creatures, and while Dover wasn't quite as bad, it still had been well populated - as such, the couple had skirted the edges of it, and now were approaching the harbor in search of a boat that hadn't been taken.

_I don't wanna live this life without you  
><em>_I don't wanna spend the night without you  
><em>_I don't wanna know what it's like  
><em>_I can't dream without you_

They had just found a motorboat, some meters away, when a creature spotted them, half her face gone. She had snarled running for them, attracting the attention of others.

Severus pushed Lily towards the boat. "Go, Lily, go. Get the boat started. If I'm not in it by the time it's started, leave. Don't look back."

"No, Severus, I'm not leaving you behind!"

_Flowers for your hand  
><em>_Rainbows for your eyes to see_

The dark haired teen simply kissed Lily. Pulling away, he physically pushed her away, guiding her. "I love you, Lily. Raise our child, tell them I love them."

Lily nodded tearfully, a shout of her returned sentiments drowned out by the oncoming creatures.

As she sprinted to the boat and clambered in, Severus was battling the creatures with his all. The killing curse left his wand over and over, interspersed with cutting and blasting curses.

Lily hastily untied the boat, pulling the thick rope on board. She glanced up, heart clenching when she saw how many there were. They'd never fought this many at once together, much less alone.

She screamed his name, and he began running down the dock, firing spells over his shoulder.

_Your dreams are everywhere  
><em>_To carry you away from me  
><em>_Away from me someday  
><em>_Away from me someday_

Severus' heart was pounding, and he knew he wouldn't make it. A haphazard _bombarda _was thrown over his shoulder, making the dock explode, blasting wood, creatures, and water into the air. But the creatures he hadn't blasted away were still hot on his trail.

He reached the boat, the vehicle already moving away from the dock, grasping his screaming Lily's hand and dangling over the edge. One of the creatures jumped onto his back and immediately began gnawing on his shoulder, Severus' screams of pain rivaling the volume of the motor.

The thing yelped in pain when Lily threw a nonverbal spell at it, making it fall away into the water.

Severus gritted his teeth against the pain, feeling as if fire was spreading through his body from the wound.

He looked up when he felt Lily's hands cupping his face. "Severus…no, Severus, please, everything's gonna be okay."

He gave a bittersweet smile. "Lily, you know that's not true. Now, kiss me and then let me go before I can become like them. Then go to France, raise our child."

Lily's tears spilled down her face, whipped away into the saltier water below by the wind. "Okay."

"Always remember me?"

The red head stifled a sob and nodded frantically. "Always."

Then, with one last kiss, Severus let go and slipped from Lily's hands, slipped from the surface and down into the English Channel.

_I don't wanna live this life without you  
><em>_I don't wanna spend the night without you  
><em>_I don't wanna know what it's like  
><em>_I can't dream without you_

Paris was a beautiful city full of lights and bustling people, tourists and natives alike. One woman in particular - a red head with brilliant green eyes - sat at a park, watching her son, with his slightly too-large nose and thick, black hair, running around with other children.

_I don't wanna live this life without you  
><em>_I don't wanna spend the night without you  
><em>_I don't wanna know what it's like  
><em>_I can't dream without you_

She gave a bittersweet smile and whispered to no one in particular, "Always."


End file.
